


Never Alone

by SerpantKing



Series: Redemption [1]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: AU Everyone Survives, Chris and Sam power team, Major plot spoilers, Multi, Rescuing Josh Washington, Romance, The ending that we deserve, Tumblr Prompt, end of Until Dawn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-19 12:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4745687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpantKing/pseuds/SerpantKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam won't give up on bringing Josh back from the mines. Together with Chris, she makes the dangerous journey back into the darkness of the wendigo nest. Nothing will stop them from saving the man they love.</p><p>-A tumblr prompt based on my post about Sam and Chris going back to the mines for Josh-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Never Again

**Author's Note:**

> I've been getting a lot of positive feedback on the post I made under thesamwasington, so I thought I may as well give the people what they deserve. Josh needs a happy end. Enjoy the journey.
> 
> Also sorry for making this first installment so short. I promise the next chapter will be longer and filled with action and romantic tension.  
> \-------  
> I don't own the rights to Until Dawn or any of the characters.

Sam and Ashley stayed together, huddled by the door to the lodge. There were suddenly quick footsteps in the snow. Chris’s visage was clear in the glass panels, sprinting toward the shadowed building. The tension was palpable as neither Josh nor the stranger was anywhere to be seen. Ash ran to the door to meet him.

“Ash! Ash, come on this thing is RIGHT BEHIND ME! Please! Let me IN!”

Ash backed away, remembering the events that led up to this point. Chris, with the gun pointed at her, pulling the trigger. No.

“Ash, what are you doing?!”

Sam pushed Ash out of the way, flung the door open, and pulled Chris inside. The door was latched again and the three remained completely still. The room was silent as death as the wendigo snorted and pressed its face into the glass of the window. A blood curdling scream rang through the room as the creature bared its fangs to them. It remained in front of the door for a long moment, as it assessed its percieved lack of contents, before it scurried away in spider like movements. The three finally released their breaths and Sam hastily released Chris’s hand. 

Chris spun around on his heels, eyes bewildered and furious. “What the fuck, Ash? Were you going to let that thing kill me?”

He stepped closer.

“Well you were going to shoot me!” Ash shot back angrily, eyes burning red with tears. “How is that any fucking different, you dip!”

Another step. 

Sam had enough and was anxious to get the group back together and get the hell off of this cursed mountain. She reached up and tugged at Chris’s sleeve. “Chris. Chris! Where is Josh? Where is he?” She looked up at him expectantly and all he could do was look away shamefully.

Chris froze in place. His fury simmered off and left him feeling empty. Nothing could make what he had to say come any easier. “Sam…Sam, I’m so – I was too late. Too late for Josh and…God.” Chris dropped the gun and pulled Sam into a desperate embrace. It felt like everything was crumbling and he needed a foothold. Something to keep him from sinking into complete despair. “That thing killed the stranger…and I think…I think one of them took Josh.” He choked out a sob. He couldn’t look Sam in the eye knowing that he was part of the reason why this happened. Why that man died and why Josh, his best friend, was taken into the deep recesses of those abandoned mines and having who knows what done to him. 

Sam’s expression hardened. She gently stepped out of his embrace and took his sleeve back in her hand. Ash shot a confused expression to Sam as the three of them made their way toward the basement. “I’m going to the mines.”

Ash stared at Sam in disbelief as they hurried down the stairs. “What are you saying, Sam? You can’t possibly want to…Not after what he did…?” Ash froze, her words stuck in her throat. Sam and Chris both gave her a look that could have peeled paint back or burnt away the flesh of a wendigo. They made it to the basement to the panic ridden faces of their companions. All eyes were on Chris and Sam.

Mike approached the group with purpose. He had heard Sam’s words and wouldn’t idly stand by as she made this dangerous and stupid decision. “You are not going back in the mines, Sam. The guy is off his rocker. No matter what sort of feelings you think you have for him, Sam, he’s not worth risking your life fo -,” his words stopped in the air as Sam’s right palm made contact with Mike’s left cheek. He stumbled backwards and brought a hand up to touch his face where a rapidly reddening mark was forming. Sam’s fists clenched at her sides as her cheeks lit crimson. That was too much. Too far. Mike was part of the reason this happened. Part of the reason Hannah and Beth were dead. Why Josh teetered over the edge of despair as his family abandoned him to his own guilt. 

Emily rushed up to Sam and grasped her shoulders. “Sam, that guy put us through hell and you don’t even know if he’s alive.” Sam’s eyes began to water at the idea of Josh not being there…being dead at the bottom of those godforsaken mines. It couldn’t be. It can’t be. Em’s eyes softened as she looked into Sam’s watery ones. She let out a heavy sigh, realizing that this wasn’t a battle that was going to be won. She knew, she knew for as long as she had known Sam that Josh was important to her. “But that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” she gave Sam’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze, “Go down there and get him, you dumbass.” Sam smiled at Em and rubbed the tears away.

“Thanks, Em.” Sam backed out of Em’s grasp and met Matt’s eyes. He shook his head and gave her an encouraging smile. Jess gave Sam a weary smile and a simple nod, still being only partially lucid from her own traumatic jaunt through the wendigo infested mines. Mike, however, snapped and gripped at Sam’s arm.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE MINES!” Mike’s face became a scarlet red. “You should stay with the group. You’re back. That psycho isn’t worth your life, Sam!” 

“I. AM. GOING. TO. THE. MINES.” Mike’s grip loosened slightly as he gritted his teeth angrily. “You don’t have to come with me. I can handle it by myself.” 

“I’m not losing you!”

“And I’m not losing Josh like I lost Hannah and Beth!” Sam removed Mike’s hand from her arm and fixed him with a determined look. “What’s happening isn’t Josh’s fault. He didn’t know about the wendigos. No one did. And at least Jess is safe! Josh…he’s down there and he’s afraid.” She shook the image out of her head. “I’m going back.”

“And I’m going with you.” The whole room’s focus went to Chris. He had resolve and hell written all over his features. “You won’t be alone, Sam, and neither will he.” Chris’s voice broke “Josh is my best friend and I let him down…I let you down too, Sam.” He took hold of Sam’s hand. “I want to make it up to the both of you. I want everything to be okay…”

Ash looked enraged. “Fine! Go back to those stupid mines for all I care!” Chris turned to meet her eyes “Save that lunatic and play hero to him when you don’t even have the guts to save me from his stupid death trap prank!” Ash took a step back as Chris stepped toward her.

“I get that you’re mad at me, Ash.” Chris sighed deeply and came to the realization that this wasn’t going to work with them. After that horrible prank that took Beth and Hannah’s lives, he always had a knot in his stomach. Ash was part of it. And it seems that, in the end, he can’t forgive her. Not even now that he and Josh put her through almost equal pain. “But Josh is my best friend. I will NOT ABANDON him.” He turned to Mike. “Keep her safe…keep them all safe.” He turned to meet Sam’s resolute and relieved gaze with one of his own. “We’ll be back with Josh soon.” 

Mike backed off and the determined duo headed up the stairs. Chris retrieved his gun from the floor, along with some extra ammo that was resting upon the coffee table. Sam rushed up the stairs and gathers up her duffle bag, placing in it a change of clothes for Josh, a lighter, and Hannah’s favorite perfume. Chris followed her for a moment before fixing her with a strange look. 

“Okay, Sammy, I get the change of clothes because Josh spelunking in overalls is a stupid idea, but what is with the perfume and the lighter?”

“Remember how you and Josh opened the lodge earlier?”

Realization dawned on him. “But the spray on perfume doesn’t cover a lot of distance,” Chris stared into Sam’s eyes, searching for an answer that would satisfy him. She stared back with a somber expression. No. She couldn’t be. A smile tugged at the right corner of her lips. No. 

“I’m your distraction if things go bad.”

“Sam…I – ,”

“Listen, Chris, you know as well as I do that guns can only do so much to a wendigo. The way to kill them is to light them on fire. And funny enough, there is enough perfume left in this bottle to make a light, effective molotov.” Sam took Chris’s hand and squeezed it. “If things go wrong in there, I want you to take Josh and leave me.” 

“Can’t you just take the flamethrower off of the guy from the woods?”

Sam’s smile widened at the thought, “You think I can hulk that thing around while I help guide our delirious friend through a slippery, wet, rocky mine?” The young woman grasped his arms tightly. “That’s impractical, Chris, and you know it. We can’t both defend. It’ll get Josh killed!”

Chris pulled Sam against his chest tightly. He shivered with tight knot of emotion pooling in his stomach. The dread in him is palpable. He couldn’t stand it any less to lose Sam as he could Josh. She gave his arm a light squeeze and the shivering subsided slightly. “I need you to focus for me.” She took his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. “You are the best marksman we have and you’re the most reliable person Josh has. I need you to be ready to defend him and do what needs to be done.” Chris bit his lips and furrowed his brows. He tucked the girl’s head beneath his own and spoke into her golden hair.

“All three of us are coming back, or none at all.” Chris cupped her chin in his right hand and leaned into her right ear, “So, you’re going to think of something else to do with Han’s perfume instead of becoming a Roman candle.”

Sam shook her head at him and gave a defeated smile. “Fine, but Josh is the priority here.” She reached up with her small, strong hands and tugged at his fur hood. “You better be on your A-game, Tex.”

The two of them made their way downstairs and silently exited the lodge. They were met with the piercing cold of the storm, a chorus of creaking trees, and an endless void of black sky. The world is darkest just before dawn, and time was running short for them. It was running short for Josh.


	2. The Past Sings the Saddest Songs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Sam make their way through the mines to Josh. Along the way there will be a few unpleasant and unexpected turns of events. But with their combined efforts, will they find Josh and their way out of the mine?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't want to wait too long for this chapter. I've been thinking about how I wanted to attack this and how Chris's dynamic would be different from MIke's dynamic with Sam. I hope everyone enjoys this!
> 
> \-----
> 
> I don't own any of the rights to Until Dawn, or its characters.

The two young adults rushed through the snow, retracing the steps of the wendigo. Chris tracked their footprints with a steady precision as Sam trailed closely behind him. They passed the spot where the stranger died and Sam felt a light twinge of guilt, but kept moving forward. There was no time to mourn the death of a man she didn’t know. Josh needed Sam and Chris to be in top form and that meant that both were focused and prepared to react to any situation. Sam’s mind needed to stop racing. She needed to focus on the task at hand instead of on the dead man, or the thought of Josh or Chris being killed. The petite woman spotted the entrance to the mine and braced herself for the jump down.

“Ready?”

She gave a swift nod as she jumped down into the abyss below.

Chris tossed his gun down and Sam caught it with ease as he fumbled down into the mines. “Damn climbing class failed me again!” Sam extended a hand and pulled him to his feet. The young man dusted himself off and a light blush creeped onto his cheeks, ashamed of his ineptitude. 

“Let’s get going. We need to hurry before something happens to Josh.” Sam tugged on Chris’s coat. “Keep yourself focused and follow my footing.” The blonde boy gave her a quick nod and refocused himself. 

The descent into the depths of the mine felt like it was taking ages. Sam kept a strong front going so Chris could focus on the task ahead. They kept sharp eyes out for wendigo that were prowling the lengthy tunnels that seemed to be moments away from collapsing all around them. The only sound they heard was the soft scratching of gravel shifting under their feet. The two blondes found an open area in the tunnels. The young man decided to scout ahead to make sure that there were no lingering beasts or clues as to Josh’s whereabouts. Sam looked carefully around the tunnel and eventually came upon makeshift grave. A simple cross with the name ‘Beth’ written on it was planted in the ground with a designer watch resting near it. 

Sam’s façade broke. She collapsed onto her knees in front of Beth’s final resting place and weeped. Sad and angry tears flowed from her eyes as she shook, but didn’t make a single sound. Her hands gently picked up the broken watch and turned it delicately in her calloused fingers. Inscribed on the back of the watch’s battery compartment was ‘Beth’ in a simple, classy script. It was hers. This grave is hers. The reality set in fully. There was no bringing Beth back. Sam rubbed her eyes and slowly stood, only to be greeted with the most horrifying sight. Beth’s head was perched amongst the rubble. The skin on her throat was jagged, as if her head were forcibly torn from her body. Eyes were clouded, like a dead fish. Mouth lulling open as if in a deaf scream. It couldn’t be. Sam covered her mouth with both hands to stifle a sound that was both a howl and a scream. She braced herself on one hand against a wet stone wall and wretched. 

“Sam…SAM!” Chris came bounding up to her in a panic. “Sam, what’s wrong?” He hesitantly placed a hand gently to her back. She shuddered and looked into his eyes, horrified. Still clutching the watch for dear life. Her eyes averted. Chris followed her gaze until they found that horrid scene. His words were choking him. There was nothing that could do justice to this. Nothing to bring peace to Sam. He stood silently and gritted his teeth. The young man removed his hand from her back and placed it on her eyes, gently pulling her back to him. A feeble attempt at grounding her. He had to make her look away. Make her forget. But he can’t. She won’t ever forget that nightmarish scene. Chris felt her warm tears coating his palm. “Don’t look, Sammy. Don’t look…”

Sam’s sobbing subsided after a few moments. The tears died behind her eyes. She was dehydrated and couldn’t keep wasting energy on crying. She stumbled back to Beth’s grave and used her middle and index fingers to close her friend’s eyes. “We need to go…” Chris nodded and held her once more. “We need to – Oh God..we need to find Josh.” She choked out one last sob and whispered “Please…please if there is anything out there…please let him be alive.”

Chris took Sam’s arm and led her toward a shallow underground lake. Sam shook her head at him. On the best of days she was cautious around bodies of water, but at the worst of times she was downright terrified of them. This was one of those occasions. Chris jumped in first. The freezing water prickled his skin, numbing him from the waist down. He motioned for Sam to follow. She bit her lower lip and hefted herself into the water. She yelped in pain as she hit the freezing depths. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something on the opposite shore. Maybe it was a clue as to the whereabouts of her friend. Was he just her friend? No, no time for this. She put on a brave face and waded to the shore. The two young adults pulled themselves out of the freezing water and onto shore. 

On the ground was a makeshift diary. Sam recognized her best friend’s writing instantly. The blonde picked it up and poured over the pages. They relayed a story of desperation. Hannah witnessed Beth’s death, buried her, and nearly starved to death. Han then dug her twin up and fed on her flesh…poor Hannah. That large wendigo that seemed to follow them everywhere. That was her. “Chris…oh my God…”

Chris had been reading over Sam’s shoulder. “Sam… She was down here for months…My God.” He squeezed her shoulder gently and softly stroked with his thumb. “I can’t believe this happened…” The young man sucked in a breath and heaved a sigh, “We need to go, Sammy.”

They returned to the lake with a splash. There was a cave with a door that seems to not have been touched in a while. The chance was low, but they had to try. Josh had to be somewhere in these mines. They knew he had to. The two hoisted themselves from the lake, Sam being overly cautious about keeping her bag dry. Josh deserved dry clothes at the very least. Unfortunately, a large wendigo was stalking them. Upon its shoulder was a butterfly marking. It followed its prey close behind. 

Then, at last, they heard something that wasn’t them. It was just a little further in. A man’s frantic voice was echoing through an expanse of tunnel. The sound of his body knocking on the sides of the walls and harsh sobbing noises ripped through the air. It was Josh. It had to be. Sam and Chris looked at each other and then down the corridor. They sprinted down the hall to the source. They didn’t care if wendigos were everywhere in this place, or if they encountered one. All that mattered was that Josh was there. Alive.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

“Josh?”

“You’re DEAD! Shut UP!!!”

“Josh!”

“It’s not real…”

“JOSH!!”

“I don’t take orders from you…” the distraught young man let out a sob and blinked at the blood dripping into his left eye from the cut on his forehead , “You can’t tell me what to do anymore.”

“Josh PLEASE PLEASE ANSWER ME!!! JOSH!!!”

“Okay…okay….I trust you…” an unnatural calm took over Josh as he aimlessly wandered toward Sam’s shrill cries for him.

Sam saw Josh beyond a wooden partition, down a dark corridor. Only a single ray of light illuminated that he was actually there and not some horrible vocal mockery done by the wendigo. Sam opened the door and cautiously approached him when his pacing worsened.

“No no no No nO NO... You’re not real…” his eyes glazed over as his hands shot up and frantically pulled at his dirty brown tresses, “Get away from me! I didn’t want you to die…” he choked out a sob, “ I swear!”

“Josh…What’s wrong?”

An animalistic cry ripped from Josh’s lips. There was nothing but fear as he found himself lost within his own delusions. His sisters tormented him with visions of rotting corpses; rotten versions of themselves that tore away their own faces. Disgust. Fear. Guilt. So guilty. A pig squealed demonically as it came at him. Another scream. He swatted at it to no avail. And then…Hannah, but not Hannah. A monster. A sickening vision with pitch white flesh and gnashing fangs that stuck out in every direction. Milky, soulless eyes that hungered for him. A gruesome vision filled his senses…terror and pain. A sickness settled into his heart. He was truly lost in the dark with nothing but these ghosts…his broken mind enveloped him with terrors that would pick at him until nothing was left. Darkness filled his senses as he braced himself for the inevitable pain that was to follow…everything was anguish and guilt and then… warmth.

Sam wrapped her arms around Josh’s waist. There was no telling what his reaction would be, but it didn’t matter to her. All that mattered was that Josh was in pain and needed her to ground him. To bring him back home. “Please, Josh, please come back to us…” she shivered and sobbed quietly into his back. She whispered to him in a tone that was reminiscent of a prayer to anyone that would listen “Come back to me…”

Chris carefully went to Josh’s front. “Hey, Man…” Chris whispered soothingly. He slowly stepped forward and pulled Sam and Josh into his arms. “It’s okay, Joshey boy, you’re not alone any more.” The blonde boy rested his forehead to the brunet's. 

“You’ll never be alone again…” Sam pressed a soft kiss between Josh’s shoulders and his body seemed to visibly relax. 

“Sammy…Cochise…” Josh reached one hand up to Chris’s fur lined jacket while the other soothed the top of one of Sam’s small hands. “Are you…you’re real, right? You’re not some fucked up thing that my mind is making up to torture me, right?” A sob rose from deep within Josh’s chest. He was soaking wet from being dragged through the snow. The wounds on his face and body throbbed ferociously. His mind continued to torment him, but then they showed up. The only two people in the world. The only ones that were able to get him to come back from his nightmares. 

Sam and Chris both smiled and held tighter to Josh’s body. 

“We’re real, Josh… W’re here to take you home.”

“Yeah, Man, let’s go home…” Chris planted a chaste kiss to Josh’s forehead, careful not to disturb his wound.

Sam reluctantly released Josh from her firm grasp as she reached for the spare clothes in her bag. “Josh, put these on. You’re soaking wet and you need dry, not baggy clothes to get through these mines.” 

Josh slowly stepped out of Chris’s embrace and turned to Sam. His eyes focused on the dry clothes and smiled. “I think you just want to see me strip, Sammy.” Her face went a shade of brilliant crimson that was barely visible in the dark. Only Josh could pull something like that after coming out of a hallucination. The three of them smiled, but Sam’s smile completely dropped as she pushed the dry clothes into Josh’s hands. 

“Change first. Then I need to tell you something.”

Josh nodded at his sweet little bird as he began removing his overalls and soaked shirt. The new jeans, shirt, and jacket felt comforting against his cold clammy skin. He smiled softly thinking of how hard Sam had tried to keep these dry in her duffle bag. Josh looked up after he finished buttoning up his pants. He smiled at Chris as they both looked at Sam, who had averted her eyes and a deep rosy blush persisted on her pale cheeks. “Okay, mockingbird, what do you need to tell me?” His face paled as he saw the expression she made. His hand gently cupped her cheek. “Tell me, Sam…”

“Hannah,” she choked back a sob ,”Hannah was trapped down here for weeks…months? She buried Beth, but…” She didn’t want to finish the story, but she felt the need to when Josh’s dark eyes stared into her own. Searching. Piecing the puzzle pieces back in place. His eyes watered. Eyebrows furrowed. Teeth bit at his bottom lip until it split. He knew.

Chris gave Josh’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “Josh…we need to leave. This place isn’t safe…”As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard sporadic movement. The group tensed up. Sam looked into Chris’s sky blue eyes with a fierce determination. He nodded back at her. A slight flush creeped into his features as he noticed her eyes lingering a little too long. He reloaded his rifle and shook the notion from his mind that his fairly attractive friend was staring at him like that.

Sam took hold of Josh’s hand and looked back at him. “Follow my steps exactly, Josh. I’ll find a safe way for all of us to get out of here.” Josh nodded quickly and gingerly followed in her footsteps. “Chris, I’m relying on you to be our defense. And please…follow in my footsteps and be careful.”

The group made their way back to the lake. Unfortunately a surprise waited for them within the water’s depths. A wendigo sprang fort from the lake, pushing aside both Sam and Chris, who went tumbling unceremoniously into the icy waters. The wendigo grasped Josh by the shoulders and bore its fangs at him. Suddenly he noticed the butterfly on its shoulder.

“Hannah…?”

The wendigo took off at a hurried pace down the corridors of the mine. Sam and Chris quickly recomposed themselves as they sprinted after the monster. They shimmied through crevices and Sam helped hoist Chris up particularly difficult walls of stone. The tunnels got narrow as they came upon a small wendigo nest in a hidden area within the depths of the mine. Hannah was there. She was staring intently at Josh as he stared blankly back. 

Sam turned back to Chris and pressed him into a dark, narrow crevice near the entrance to Hannah’s new lair. “I need to lure her away from Josh…”

“What!”

Wendigo Hannah turned and hissed at the abyss that Sam and Chris shivered in. Sam held her breath and placed her hand to Chris’s mouth. Her body was flush against his, hiding in the dark. He balled his hands up in her red jacket and held tightly, effectively bringing Sam closer to himself. Her breathing was slow. He focused on that and attempted to slow his heartbeat down to the same pace.

“This time, I’ll do all of the talking, Chris.” Sam smirked up at him. “I need to distract her so you can get Josh away.”

“How do you plan on doing that one?” He scoffed, “ And please don’t say that you intend on lighting yourself up like a bottle rocket and taking her down with you. I already vetoed that plan at the lodge.” 

She snorted. “Just trust me, Chris.” Sam pressed her forehead to his chest, “Trust that I’m doing something ingenious.” She pushed out of his grasp and slowly crept to the entrance. She mouthed to him to ‘STICK TO THE SHADOWS’ and ‘MOVE SLOWLY’ as she came to the mouth of the hideout she started humming a soft tune.

“I remember how you liked these old spiritual songs, Han.” Sam looked into the wendigo’s milky eyes for some flicker of reaction. For a moment, just one, she saw a glimmer of something. Perhaps Sam guessed correctly and her childhood friend was still in there a little bit.  
“O’ death… Oooh death!”

“O…Oh death…” the wendigo began to harmonize with Sam’s singing. 

“Won’t you spare me over till another year?” Sam made slow, deliberate movements into the cave. She continued singing for her wendigo best friend.

“Well what is this that I can’t see?  
With ice cold hands takin’ hold of me…” Sam maintained eye contact with wendigo Hannah, attempting to coax her away from Josh and force her to focus on the song. To the blonde’s surprise, the wendigo began to sing back.

“Well I am Death, none can excel  
I’ll open the door to Heaven or Hell…” The creature mimicked Hannah’s sweet voice well. It was as if she was still alive, her heart beating somewhere in that monster.

Sam slowly made her way around the wendigo to focus its eyes on the exact opposite part of the cave as Chris was on. Chris cautiously crept closer to Josh’s position. Taking the time to freeze in place to keep the wendigo from noticing him over Sam. 

“I’ll fix your feet til you can’t walk,  
I’ll lock your jaw til you can’t talk,  
I’ll close your eyes so you can’t see…” 

"Shit…" Chris lost his footing on the loose, fine sediment. He fell to one knee as Josh turned to eye his best friend with pupils dilated like saucers. They fixed their gaze to wendigo Hannah as she nearly decided to turn around. Sam decided to make a last ditch effort. She mouthed ‘Sorry’ to the boys she loved. She may not make it out of this one. She sprayed a little bit of Hannah’s favorite daisy field perfume into the air. The fine mist was enough to draw her attention immediately back to Sam. 

“This very hour, come and go with me…” Hannah reached out and snatched Sam in her massive claws. Sam was still able to work a single scrap of fabric away from her clothes, pop the nozzle off of the perfume, and slip it into the bottle. The wendigo ran its claws over the rock wall behind Sam, the sparks were enough to light the fabric. Good… Hannah then plunged her long thumbnail into Sam’s side. She eyed Chris and Josh. Chris tightly covered his friend’s mouth to stifle the screams and sobs while horrified tears streaked down his cheeks. Sam motioned her head to a hiding spot that they could slink into while Hannah took her time forming long tears in Sam’s abdomen. 

“I am death and your end is…” blood spurted from Sam’s lips.

“My end is near…” the wendigo sang back to Sam as she threw the makeshift molotov in her former best friend’s face. Hannah howled and tossed Sam to the opposite side of the cave, near where Josh and Chris were hiding. Death screeches filled the air as the wendigo flailed in pain and agony. It finally stopped moving and the boys came out from hiding. 

Josh was the first one to reach Sam. Tears flooded down his face. He frantically shook her shoulders. “Please…SAM PLEASE!” primal screams tore from his mouth, over her limp form. “Stay with me, Sammy… There’s no point in this if we go back without you.”

Chris, with just as many tears tearing down his cheeks, lightly moved Josh out of the way. He removed his jacket and set to work using his over shirt as a tourniquet for her wounds. He apologized and wished that he had a needle and thread to close the large wound in her side. 

“No time…” The two boys turned to her. “No time, if there are more wendigos, we need to leave now…” She rolled to her other side that wasn’t wounded. The young woman exhibited an amount of tenacity that neither Chris nor Josh had ever seen. Josh was in awe, she was his Melanie Daniels in the middle of this hell. Both of them found a new determination to leave.

“Do you need me to carry you?” Chris eyed her bleeding wounds. Josh exchanged a nervous look with him.

“No, I need to be able to guide both of you through the tunnels. I know how badly the two of you suck at hiking and climbing.”

“You wound us, Sam, but you do speak the truth.”

“Especially since pretty boy here didn’t pay attention in “climbing class”, right” the brunet chuckled while the blonde scoffed. 

“Jokes later, climbing out of this hell now.” Sam firmly gripped onto Josh’s hand as the three set off through the caves. They retraced their steps back with Sam’s expert landmark recognition. The two young men, however, had to help her down the drops and carry her past the lake so as not to aggravate her wounds. Other times, Chris would spot a stray wendigo in his scope. Sam would immediately figure out the best area to hide in and pull Chris and Josh out of harm’s way. They pressed into darkened corners and under stray pieces of furniture. Sam had Chris and Josh synch their heartbeats up with her breathing as she stared into the hungry milky eyes of wendigo in the mine. She soothed Josh’s trembling form and Chris used what little strength he had left to hold his best friend tightly to his body. The three of them eventually made it to the entrance of the mine and scrambled along the trail back to their friends.


	3. Nights Born of Suffering, Days Born of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tenacious trio finally makes it to the lodge, but something is waiting for them there. Confessions are made in moments of terror. Will the three of them make it until the dawn comes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter came pretty late. The last chapter will be on its way soon and possibly a followup. Thank you all for your support, comments, suggestions, and just for taking the time to read this story. All of you inspire me to keep writing. This chapter is for you.
> 
> \------
> 
> Until Dawn and all of its characters are the property of Supermassive Games.

The lodge slowly came into view on the horizon. Chris’s finger lingered on the trigger guard, just in case any wendigos came too close. Josh and Sam were barely holding together. The shuddering brunet just experienced another panic attack while Sam’s wounds could only take so much more trauma from trudging back in the steep snowy trail. Even at that, the wounded blonde was able to motivate the two young men to keep going. They needed to get back to their friends and to the safety of the lodge’s walls. 

“We’re almost there,” Chris looked back to assess the conditions of his two companions ,”Please hang on, girl, we’ll get you some real bindings soon.”

“I’m doing okay, Tex, don’t worry.”

“Why do I still see them…”

The blondes exchange worried glances. Their friend was experiencing the hallucinations of his sister’s corpses over and over. They couldn’t avoid him seeing Beth’s head at the grave and neither could they prevent him from seeing Hannah’s new form or her demise. Josh had been through too much and now he has to live with knowing their fates. Also with the fact that Hannah, though possessed, still nearly gored Sam. Along the way back there had been several breakdowns, attacks, hallucinations…if they weren’t so worried about wendigo attacks, they would have just settled for staying in the shelter of one of the caves that they passed, but they couldn’t risk it. Bullets only did so much and Sam could no longer move quickly. Sam gave Chris a knowing look, but offered a sweet smile. They’ll make it back. They had to.

“You’re dead…you’re both dead!” Josh shuddered violently and collapsed on his knees into the snow. “I saw your head, Beth! You don’t have a body anymore!”

“Josh…”

“Hannah ate you, Beth! She ate your body after you died and became that thing!”

Sam calmly sat next to the sobbing young man. 

Josh placed his right hand over his eyes in an effort to escape his phantom sisters, but to no avail. They still tormented him in the pitch black behind his eyelids. Nothing he did helped. Oh God, why did he stop taking his meds again? They made him feel sick, but they helped. The nightmares didn’t show up in the daytime with them. But the sickness and the apathy. Most days he felt like a robot. Every action mechanical. He had been on meds before that were lower dosage, but after his sisters disappeared into the mountains. Into those damned mines… Doctor Hill said not to stop, but he didn’t listen. Now this. Now he can’t shoo them away like he used to. They’re back with a vengeance. They won’t stop.

Sam placed her hand on top his left hand and rubbed soothing lines on his knuckles. Chris kneeled down in front of them and Josh leaned into Chris’s back for support. 

“Hannah and Beth aren’t here anymore, man,” Chris bowed his head as a few silent tears dripped from his eyes. He was broken and exhausted. His composure only stayed as long as Sam reinforced in, but holding it on his own was too unbearable at this time. He couldn’t stand to see Josh this way. His best friend had never been this broken. The blonde couldn’t believe that his other dear friend was a hairsbreadth from keeling over. That Ash was going to let him die. That Sam saved him just in time. That he let Josh stay in that fucking shed all alone and let him get taken by Hannah. That none of them would be that bad if he could have just stood up to Mike. He was guilty of a lot of this. The tears started pouring. 

Sam laboriously rose to her feet. “We’re going to be okay,” she soothed to the two of them. “Josh, can you stand? Please try for Chris and for me,” the blonde softly directed Josh.

Josh rose on shaky legs. He continually muttered for his phantoms to leave him alone. Chris snaked one arm around Josh’s shoulders and slowly guided him along the trail. Sam comforted herself with one of her hands running soothing lines below her bandaged stomach wounds. The tears in her torso weren’t too deep, but they throbbed like mad. What worried her most was the gash in her side. She didn’t know if Hannah had made contact with any of her organs. She knew that the only reason why she could still keep going was that adrenaline was pumping ferociously through her entire being. It was telling her to stay conscious until she got her two companions off of this hellish mountain. 

The three of them kept a steady pace until they finally made it to the door of the lodge, only to find that two wendigos were within. Their friends were all scattered at various hiding points in the front room. The three looked at each other and contemplated the best way for them to handle this. 

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing. There has to be a way to get them out.”

“Sam, you’re in no condition to go all Rambo on us. You’re wounded and possibly in need of surgery for that gaping hole in your side.”

“Josh needs you, though, and I can still move just fine.”

“Sammy…”

The two blondes both look at Josh. He’s partially lucid. Just enough to comprehend what Sam’s plan was.

“Don’t go, Sammy.”

“I have to, Josh, there’s not much of a choice.”

“What will Chris and I do if you go?”  
“I’ll be back”

“What if you die? Chris and I will be alone. Our muse will be gone.”

“Our?”

“You’re so not observant, Sammy, I’m not the only one that has had eyes for you. And Ash isn’t the only one that was wanting in on Chris’s bone zone.”

“We can talk about the three of us when I make it out with everyone else…”

“But what if you don’t, Sammy!”

The atmosphere all around them tensed. This was probably the worst time for the three young adults to confront their feelings. Sam had already owned up to her feelings for Josh a long time ago, but she had to own up to the ones she had for Chris. And Chris had to swallow his own pride and realize that Josh and Sam were more than what he fronted. How he talked about being a couple with either of them and played it off as a joke moments later. How he was so consumed with the idea of Ashley that he didn’t really notice his feelings building for the blonde and brunet before him. They were always there. Always. And now something outside his control is waiting to take one of them away and he couldn’t stand it. None of them could. Josh had already come to terms with his feelings for Sam and Chris. They were the only constants that he had, especially after his sisters died. Even amidst all of the instability, there they were. The only two grounding factors he had. They had to say it. This may be the last time they get the chance to. 

Sam decided that she would once again take charge of the situation. It seems like that’s what she had always been destined to do. She blushed as she grabbed both Josh and Chris by the hand and they turned their focuses to her completely. “Josh, you’re right. You’re always right about people and you can read them like books even in this crappy state you’re in,” she took a deep breath, “I have been in love with you for a long time and you already knew that. But…I’ve also been in love with Chris for almost as long.” Chris’s face flushed from his cheeks to his ears. “Since we were kids. Since Josh first brought you over to the Washington estate and we all played hide-and-seek for hours.” She choked back tears ,“How both of you would take forever to find me and get so frustrated and scared that I was lost in that mansion, or in the hedge maze.”

“I remember…”

“Me too…”

A deafening screech came from inside. Sam knew she had to leave them soon. She needs to get her other friends, she has to make it out of there so they can see what the three of them are to each other. Maybe they could be a family together. They could create new and happy memories. They just need to stay alive until dawn.

“I need to go now.”

Chris and Josh both increased their grasp on Sam’s hands. They looked at each other and then back at Sam. 

“Come back to us, Sammy.”

“I will.”

“You better, girl, be-because I won’t be able to tell you and Josh my feelings properly without you there.”

The two young men each took a turn placing a gentle kiss to Sam’s wind cracked, yet soft lips. Then she was gone. The two of them backed away and held tight to one another, waiting for their other lover to return from that hellish place.

Sam dodged from hiding area to hiding area, finding each of her friends’ locations.The wendigos observed the space and stalked each other in sporadic hunting movements. Everyone stood as still as death itself. The two wendigos fought, tossing one another across the room and into the gas fireplace. Sam made eye contact with Mike, who was formulating a plan. He saw the lightbulb in the sconce, exposed and glorious. She nodded at him and he took the chance to slowly make his way to the bulb while Sam guided their friends from their hiding spots. First was Em who slowly eased toward the door from her pillar hiding location. Then came Ash, who had been hiding underneath one of the decorative tables against the wall. After was both Matt and Jess, which was tricky because Jess was in worse condition than Sam. Jess misstepped and one of the wendigo heard her. Sam quickly ushered the two out the door as she whistled from a new hiding spot. The large creature stalked over to her and howled in her ear. Every nerve in her body sang in terror as she barely kept still enough for the creature to not notice her. It moved away quickly and stalked around into the kitchen. Last was Mike, who came down from the terrace while the wendigo were distracted. Good, they’re all gone. Now it was Sam’s turn to flee. She took in a sharp breath and prepared to sprint for the door. She darted out of her hiding spot, only to have the wendigo immediately charge her down like a strange giant spider. Her wounds bled, dripping down her stomach and soaking into her running capris as she practically flew to the exit. She reached out her hands, her fingers lightly flicked the switch as the electric current ignited the gas. The lodge became an explosive bonfire in a single moment. Sam let herself collapse into the snow, letting the cold take her and ease the pain of her wounds. She was glad. Everyone made it. If she could make it to a hospital, maybe she would make it too. Maybe she could hear Josh and Chris’s full confessions. Maybe they could finally be together. 

The propellers of a helicopter could be heard overhead. The whirring of the motor and the air swirling around the blades rhythmically was the best sound any of them had heard all night. 

“We have a visual. The main structure is completely destroyed over.”

“It looks like there are survivors.”

“Let’s pick ‘em up.”

Chris and Josh ran up to Sam. Josh collected her limp form in his gentle embrace as Chris tried to re-bind her wounds. They were bleeding profusely from all the strain she put on her body. They needed to get her to the hospital soon.


	4. Together At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events at the lodge, the trio ends up in the hospital. The future is bright and hopeful for the three as the conclusion only spells the beginning of their happy adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided that since I'm being rather slow, all of you deserve to have the final chapter to this arc of the series sooner rather than later. Enjoy this fluffy chapter, Dears, you've earned it. I'll do little one shot after stories of their adventures together soon.
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me for this. It means a lot to me.
> 
> ________
> 
> Until Dawn and its characters belong to Supermassive Games, duh!

Hours later they were in the hospital. The doctors treated everyone’s wounds and sent most of them to a local hotel to rest. They kept Sam and Jess to get them both back into stable condition. Josh begged the staff to let him and Chris stay with Sam; saying that they’re family; threatening them with the wrath of his parents; generally making the staff’s lives hell for denying their request to stay. He refused to be separated from her ever again. The morning staff, weary from fighting with the young man, finally let them stay with Sam. They pulled out the futon in the couch and let sleep take them. Josh decided that he would get ahold of Doc Hill later and try to get his meds adjusted. He would continue taking them for her. And for him. His two lovers needed him to be at his best. He needed him to be at his best as well. 

Sometime during the morning, Sam lazily opened her eyes. There was a picc line in her arm feeding her various drugs to numb her pain and help her immune system to fight off any of the foreign materials that Hannah’s claw could have deposited into her wounds. She carefully ran her fingers over her torso. The long gashes along her stomach had been stitched closed. Along her side was stitching and bandaging. She looked on the wall at the notes that the doctor, nurse, and CNA left. They had taken her to surgery almost as soon as they got her off of the life flight helicopter. She wondered what damage had been done, but more than that, where were Josh and Chris? Then she heard the most comforting sounds she has ever heard. The light snores of her two lovers were coming from a futon couch to her left. She was content. They were alive and away from that awful mountain. A light knocking sound came from the door before the nurse walked into the room.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Mrs. Washington.”

“What?”

“That young man, over there, said you were married.”

“Oh,” Sam thought about it for a moment and recalled that unrelated guests were forced to be elsewhere when visiting hours were over, “Oh, yes we are.”  
“And you two are dating that blonde gentleman? Well, at least he’s less trouble.” 

“Yes, we are.”

“Not a dynamic you see everyday, but who really defines what a normal family is any way?”

Sam chuckled, then twitched. The pain tingled slightly in her newly stitched wounds. 

“Oh, yes, you had some pretty terrible injuries when we got you here. Thankfully that wound in your side only damaged one of your kidneys. We removed it since 72 percent of it was mutilated.”

“That isn’t the worst thing that could have happened.”

“Yes, you’re lucky. What exactly did that to you?”

“A wendigo…”

“A what?”

“I mean…a large animal. I don’t remember it very well. It happened so fast.”

“I see. Well, we’re going to keep you for another day or two for observation. We can’t be too careful with animal attacks.”

The nurse took the standard measurements of blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature. She was also kind enough to bring Sam a large cup of ice water and taught her how to use the controls on her bed to operate the seating and laying positions. It also had controls for the little flat screen television in the room. After the nurse left, Sam turned the TV on and lowered the volume to a soft hum. She flipped through the channels until she found one that she liked. It was airing The Shining which was one of Sam’s favorite old horrors to watch with Josh, Hannah, Beth, and Chris. She smiled at Jack Nicholson’s silly range of facial expression and Shelley Duvall’s terrible 80’s handmade fashion. It was a comfort to see that the monsters were contained in a tiny screen that they can’t escape from. All this reality had was her two sleeping lovers and her. 

Josh awoke with a start, which startled Chris awake. It was past noon and they both had endured terrible nightmares. Then they heard the soft sounds of the television playing a familiar movie. They leaned up and saw that Sam was awake. She turned to them and flashed a sweet smile in their directions. Both young men teared up and wandered over to her bed and each took a hand and placed soft kisses on them. 

“Thank God, Sammy.”

“Way to make us worry about you, Wonder Woman.”

“We almost thought we lost you on the way here.”

“I told you I would be okay.”

“Promise us that you won’t do stupid shit like that…ANY of that ever EVER AGAIN.”

“Only if Josh promises that he’ll take it easy on the murder pranks. Deal?”

Josh placed his lips to her forehead in a gentle and loving kiss. Tears streaked from his eyes and he didn’t care who saw. The two people that he had left in this world survived. And they saved him. He made a solemn promise that he would do right by them. That he would do his best to be a better person for them.

“Never again. And I’ll go back on my meds as soon as I can see my Doc.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“You know, that Mrs. Washington thing was a nice touch.”

Both Josh and Chris look at each other and laughed. They can’t believe that the staff bought that. 

“That was actually my idea,” Chris chimed in. “Josh wanted to say you were married to the both of us, but that, unfortunately, isn’t legal yet.”

Sam let out a chuckle, but suppressed it as best as she could to keep from aggravating her new stitches.

“The three of us? Married? Well, you two need to start taking me out on dates first. Really lavish ones with roses and champagne.”

“Would you like the caviar with that, or the escargot, m’lady?” Chris made an exaggerated bowing gesture. 

“Would you like me to fly you to New York City in my private jet, Darling?” Josh made an equally comic gesture of bowing and placing a suave kiss to her knuckles. He even did his silly smolder face. 

Sam shook her head and laced her fingers into their hands.

“I think what I’d like most is a formal declaration of what we are.”

“Fair enough.” Josh pulled up a chair next to the bed. “If you’ll agree, we would like the three of us to be an exclusive polyamorous relationship.”

“In simple terms, we’d like it if we could all date each other openly,” Chris added in.

Sam looked at the two of them and feigned consideration. She already knew that she loved them both; they loved each other; and they loved her. There was no question that she was willing to give this type of relationship a try. She had never been part of anything like this before, but it was with Josh and Chris. Two wonderful people that she had known for so long and she wanted nothing more than to be by their sides for as long as time will allow. She held her pensive expression just to make them sweat. Eventually she gave them her mischievous smirk and they realized what she was doing and smiled back. 

“Of course, you two,” Sam smiled brilliantly as ever , “I want the three of us to be a family and take care of each other.”

The three of them felt elated. Nothing could ever compare to what they knew in their hearts right now. That if they could make it until dawn, they could make it for a lifetime. No obstacle could ever be too great to overcome for them. Everything that they have experienced to this point has made them grow stronger together. Now, they’ll start a new life together. They’ll date and form a happy little family, far away from Blackwood Heights. They could make it. 

Both Josh and Chris planted sweet kisses on Sam, then they shared a couple of their own. The three of them blissfully sat and finished The Shining while they planned their future. The first thing they decided was to get a dog. Josh’s parents owned land all over the place, they could figure out where to live after they found their furry companion. Chris happily browsed the internet and showed his two lovers every shelter dog within 100 miles of them. Sam immediately fell in love with a miniature Husky named Wolfie. Chris called the shelter to have them hold the dog for them while Josh got on the phone with Dr. Hill and set up an appointment. They would try to move past all of last night’s horrors and those of the past year. Josh may even convince his lovers to attend sessions with him to work past the traumas they discovered in the mines. They could do it because none of them would ever be alone again.


End file.
